4 Hurricane Names Retired After Record-Setting 2008 Storm Season

The 2008 Hurricanes Ike, Gustav, Alma and Paloma were destructive, deadly and costly. The National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration announced May 1 that those names will never again be used to describe hurricanes, out of respect for the suffering they caused.

By Dan Shapley

Comments

Tropical Storm Alma Tropical Storm Alma

The first tropical storm of 2008 in the eastern Pacific, Alma also was a record-setter. When it formed May 29, it was the easternmost storm ever to form in the Pacific.

Tropical Storm Alma was the first storm to strike Central America's Pacific coast since 1949, and the first ever known to make landfall in Nicaragua.

Alma was responsible for two direct deaths and the destruction of thousands of homes.

Hurricane Gustav

hurricane gustav, deadlystorms, 2008storms Hurricane Gustav Hurricane Gustav became a hurricane on Aug. 26, making landfall in Haiti as a Category 1 hurricane. Gustav then struck western Cuba as a Category 4 hurricane, making its final landfall near Cocodrie, La., on Sept. 1 as a Category 2 hurricane. Hurricane force winds, storm surge and heavy rain produced more than $4 billion damage in Louisiana. Gustav killed 112 people, including 77 in Haiti.

Hurricane Ike

hurricane ike Hurricane Ike on Sept. 11

The strongest hurricane to form in the Atlantic in 2008, and the third costliest storm ever to hit the United States, Hurricane Ike was a major Category 4 storm that, like the storms before it, battered Haiti, causing dozens of deaths there, and another seven in Cuba before it headed to the Texas coast.

An amazingly large storm, Ike seemed to cover a huge portion of the Gulf of Mexico as it slowly regained strength, before striking Galveston as a Category 2 storm Sept. 13, Ike became a hurricane on Sept. 3 and rapidly intensified to a Category 4 hurricane northeast of the Leeward Islands. The storm struck the Turks and Caicos Islands and Great Inagua Island in the Southeastern Bahamas on Sept. 7, and the northeast coast of Cuba later that day. Ike made its final landfall at Galveston Island, Texas on Sept. 13 as a Category 2 hurricane. Ike killed more than 80 people across the Caribbean and Bahamas, and another 20 in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas. Total estimated U.S. property damage from Ike is estimated at $19.3 billion.

Hurricane Paloma

Hurricane Paloma, retired hurricane names Hurricane Paloma Paloma reached hurricane intensity on Nov. 7 and became the second strongest November Atlantic hurricane on record the next day, reaching Category 4. According to the Cuban government, more than 1,400 homes were destroyed on that island with $300 million U.S. dollars in damage.